I recently upgraded my power supply fan to a super awesome quiet Noctua fan. I just upgraded the case as well and here’s how I did it (special thanks for Javier and Victor):
**Not responsible if you screw up, ground yourself and don’t be stupid. This tutorial will avoid soldering and modding your rambo!
Tools: Fan, buck converter, wires, wire stripper, flat head, optional stand offs to mount on the case
Fan Link: http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NEMG62M?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00
Buck converter: http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00Q48BRFO?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00
*A little overkill but the display will allow people without a multimeter to dial in the voltage. This also will allow us to avoid soldering headers onto the Rambo
Link to photos in case they don’t show up below: http://imgur.com/a/q75TR
- **Disconnect from power and remove the case from the frame. Remove the case cover and fan. Strip about an inch off the ends of two 8-10" wires.
- Insert the two wires into the terminal blocks labeled “IN + and IN -”. Remove the connector off the end of the Noctua fan. Either cut or fold away the green and blue wires.
JST connector tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRvDgiX4Sk4
- Remove the power header from the Rambo board. Unscrew 2 terminal blocks to pull out a red and yellow wire
- Wrap the two wires you prepared earlier around the respective wire (red going into the IN+ and yellow going into IN-). Insert back into the terminal block and tighten! Then plug the header back into the board.
- **DO NOT plug the fan in yet! Please plug in power and turn on the power supply. You want to press the button on the buck converter that says “O” for “Output”, then adjust the voltage with the “+” and “-” buttons until you hit “12” for 12 volts. If you got the buck converter with the potentiometer, use a flat head an tune it until you get 12 volts.
- Insert the “yellow” (+) and “black” (-) wires from the fan into the buck converter. You will have to unfold and clip off most of the ends for them to fit in the terminal. **DO NOT leave any conductive (silver) parts exposed outside the terminal block, keep clipping until they’re really in there like the photo below.
- Good to go! Just do some nice cable management. You may have to push down on some existing wires to make the fan fit. Also install the rubber pins that come with the fan. I wouldn’t use screws to mount.
8: Optional: It would be wise to mount this so you don’t short anything out. I used motherboard stand offs. Drilled 2 holes into the case and used 2 bolts to secure the stand offs. Then mounted the buck converter with two screws.
**The only downside is that the fan is ALWAYS running. But at least it’s much much quieter. I was not able to find a dependable 12V power rail on the rambo and wanted to avoid soldering headers. Also powering the fan from the source will ensure that we don’t cause issues somewhere else.
Combine this with the power supply fan upgrade: https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/power-supply-fan-upgrade-tutorial/2882/1
Some stepper dampers: http://www.ultibots.com/nema-17-damper-astrosyn-my17rmdamp/
And maybe some heatsinks for the motor drivers: http://www.ebay.com/itm/321974744507?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
The result will cut the noise in half!
Let me know if you have any questions!
Good luck.
-Imran